Sushi Rinda opened its doors in 2014 in Tokyo's Fudomae district. For over a decade, it has been beloved by countless guests as a popular sushi restaurant where the craft of Edomae sushi coexists with a warm sense of approachability. While dedicated to Edomae sushi craftsmanship — striving to create a satisfying experience that encompasses not only the taste of each dish but also fine attention to detail and the comfortable sense of closeness shared with every guest — the restaurant had been facing ongoing operational challenges: frequent overbooking across multiple reservation platforms, difficulty collecting cancellation fees for no-shows and last-minute cancellations, and the siloing of guest information held only in individual staff members' memories. Through its long-standing use of Respo since the platform's earliest days, Sushi Rinda has achieved flexible cancellation-fee collection, the conversion of lost opportunities into new sales via the follower-notification feature, the cultivation of a culture of accumulating and leveraging guest insights, and "simple operations anyone on the team can handle" grounded in Respo's design philosophy — realizing "a long-term partnership that goes beyond reservation management and moves in step with the restaurant's own growth."

### Challenges Before Adopting Respo

Sushi Rinda was facing the following operational challenges:

**■Frequent overbooking caused by juggling multiple reservation platforms**

- The restaurant was using several reservation platforms in parallel, but with no one on-site able to manage them in a unified way, overbooking occurred frequently.

- Each platform had different structures for referral fees and guest-side service charges, making it genuinely difficult to compare and determine which was the best fit for the restaurant.

**■Cancellation-fee collection for no-shows and last-minute cancellations**

- Every time a no-show or last-minute cancellation occurred, the restaurant had to directly contact the guest by phone or email to request payment for the course fee.

- Some guests simply went silent and became unreachable — a significant blow for a small sushi restaurant with limited seats.

- There was a growing need to narrow down to reservation platforms that could reliably collect cancellation fees.

**■Siloed guest information held in individual staff members' memories**

- There was no structured system in place to retain guest information; it lived primarily in the memory of whichever staff member had served that guest.

- Sharing this information across the team was difficult, and when a different staff member took over, the relationship with the guest often had to start over from scratch.

### Impact of Adopting Respo

**■Impact 1: Peace of mind in restaurant operations, thanks to flexible cancellation-fee collection**

Sushi Rinda can now exercise judgment based on each guest's situation — whether it is a true no-show, or a guest reaching out at the last minute to say they can no longer make it — all in line with the restaurant's cancellation policy. For unreported no-shows, the fee is collected reliably; when a guest contacts the restaurant with specific circumstances, the team can make a case-by-case decision. This kind of flexibility fits remarkably well with the sushi-restaurant environment, where every single reservation carries significant weight on the bottom line, and it has become a meaningful source of operational peace of mind.

**■Impact 2: Turning lost opportunities into new sales through the follower-notification feature**

When a seat suddenly becomes available, the restaurant can now send a special message to its followers, prioritizing regular guests. What would otherwise have been a lost opportunity due to a cancellation can instead be converted into the next sales moment — and together, "peace of mind" and "recovery" now form a stronger foundation for the restaurant's operations.

**■Impact 3: Fostering a culture of accumulating and leveraging guest insights**

Sushi Rinda, which places great importance on managing guest information, now records detailed notes with every visit in Respo's customer memo feature — including information about who regular guests tend to visit with, their anniversaries, and their favorite ingredients. These accumulated insights now inform how the team guides and hosts guests on their next visit, giving rise to a genuine culture of "accumulating and leveraging guest information" throughout the restaurant.

**■Impact 4: An on-the-floor setup anyone can handle, grounded in Respo's simple design**

The reason Sushi Rinda can achieve "simple operations" that everyone — from staff comfortable with digital tools to those who lean more analog — can use without stress, is because **Respo itself is designed with a deep respect for intuitive use in a restaurant setting**. There is no need to layer on complex configurations; the functions you need are always within easy reach. This design philosophy is what enables anyone standing at the floor to engage confidently with guests, without hesitation or stumbling.

### Comments from Mr. Mori, Operations Lead, Sushi Rinda

> The decisive factor for us with Respo was that, from an early stage, the platform had a reliable mechanism in place for collecting cancellation fees. On top of that, Respo doesn't charge referral fees to the restaurant — a stance that sets it apart. While many gourmet platforms are oriented toward the diner side, Respo has always had, from the very beginning, a posture of standing alongside the restaurant. Looking back now, this positioning is one of the biggest reasons we have been able to trust Respo over the long term.

> What has stayed with me from Respo's earliest days is that they walked alongside us — not just in terms of features, but in terms of support. It wasn't "here's the tool, we're done"; they genuinely engaged with our situation and our requests, working with us to build something better together. To say that Respo's product evolution has directly driven our restaurant's own step-up is, honestly, not an exaggeration.

### Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, CEO, Hello Inc.

> Sushi Rinda is an incredibly important partner to us — one who has been with Respo since our earliest days. The fact that this restaurant, loved by countless guests for over a decade, has grown alongside Respo in step with their own step-up, is something that genuinely means a great deal to us as the people building this product. Mr. Mori's stance — "rather than trying to use every single feature end-to-end, we focus on keeping operations simple enough that anyone can use them in the same way" — is exactly the Respo we aspire to be. In many restaurant environments, the more features a system has, the more complicated operations become, and the more it ends up wearing the floor down. We will continue to listen closely to the voices of long-term partners like Sushi Rinda, walking alongside them on both the product-improvement and operational-support fronts.

### **Case Study Available**

The full story is now available on the Respo website as an interview with Mr. Mori, the restaurant's Operations Lead. We invite you to take a look.

**▼ Case Study**

**"Respo's Growth Directly Drives Our Restaurant's Growth" ── The Sushi Rinda Journey with Respo**

[https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/sushirinda](https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/sushirinda)

[Respo Web](https://respo.autoreserve.com/)
[Respo iOS](https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/respo-by-autoreserve/id1521972781)
[Respo Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.autoreserve.forrestaurants&pcampaignid=web_share)

Respo

【Respo】Sushi Rinda, a Beloved Sushi Restaurant, Has Adopted Respo

Hello, Inc. is pleased to announce that, as an official partner of the Gourmet Site Controller offered by "Respo," it has begun a system integration with Retty Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Masaya Hirano; hereinafter "Retty"), which operates "Retty," a review and reservation platform built on real-name user reviews.

[https://respo.autoreserve.com/](https://respo.autoreserve.com/)

## Overview of the Partnership

The Gourmet Site Controller offered by Respo is a feature that connects with multiple gourmet websites and reservation services, consolidating reservation data from each service into a single, centrally managed reservation ledger within Respo. Through this partnership, Retty has now joined the Gourmet Site Controller as an official partner.

This integration applies to restaurants that use Respo and are also paying, listed members on Retty. For these restaurants, reservations made through Retty will now be automatically reflected in Respo's reservation ledger, and reservations originating from Retty can be identified within the system. This allows restaurants to manage the entire process — from accepting reservations to serving guests and following up afterward — more smoothly and accurately.

Through this partnership, Retty's reach as a fast-growing platform known for trustworthy, real-name restaurant reviews will be combined with Respo's all-in-one functionality, which brings together reservation management, customer relationship management, and the other tools restaurants need to run their business. Together, they will significantly streamline and strengthen restaurant operations across customer acquisition, reservation management, guest service, and customer retention.

Retty is a real-name-based restaurant discovery service built on the concept of "finding restaurants recommended by people you trust," and has helped many customers discover restaurants that are the right fit for them. By combining this with Respo's reservation and customer management capabilities, restaurants will be able to understand their customers more deeply, deliver a higher level of hospitality, and build a larger base of loyal, repeat customers.

## Looking Ahead

Respo has grown as an all-in-one platform that consolidates everything from reservations to customer management, supporting restaurant operations end to end. This partnership with Retty creates a seamless flow from customer acquisition through guest service and repeat-customer growth. Going forward, we will continue to expand our network of service partners to support restaurant businesses.

## About "Respo"

Respo is an all-in-one platform for restaurants, offered by Hello, Inc., with its core features available free of charge in Japan. By digitizing operations such as reservation management, order taking, accounting, and sales analysis, Respo enables restaurants to streamline operations across the board and reduce costs.

From a reservation ledger to POS registers and mobile ordering, the platform can be freely customized to match each restaurant's needs.

URL：[https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp](https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=respo-retty)

## About "Retty"

Retty: a real-name review and reservation platform for restaurants — [https://retty.me/](https://retty.me/)

Creating new dining experiences, to make life happier."

Retty is a real-name review and reservation platform where users can find the restaurant that's the perfect fit for them. Because recommendations come from real-name users, visitors can discover restaurants based on trustworthy, positive information tailored to their own tastes and occasions. Retty has been used by a wide range of age groups since its launch in June 2011.

- iPhone app: [https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/id473919569](https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/id473919569)

- Android app: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.retty](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.retty)

Reservation Data from "Retty" Centrally Managed in Respo's Reservation Ledger

Hello, Inc. has launched an integration between "Respo" and "Pikaichi Navi," a management system for the foodservice industry provided by K&C Factory Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Norihisa Aketa; hereafter "K&C Factory").

[https://respo.autoreserve.com/](https://respo.autoreserve.com/)

## **Background**

Running a restaurant business requires efficiently managing a wide range of operations — from front-of-house tasks such as reservations, ordering, and payments, to back-office functions like attendance management and purchasing, as well as cross-store performance analysis at the head-office level. For businesses operating multiple locations in particular, the burden of manually aggregating and reconciling data scattered across separate systems has often been significant, at times slowing down timely management decisions.

To address this challenge, "Respo," which supports the full flow from customer acquisition and reservations through to ordering and payment, is now integrated with "Pikaichi Navi," which excels at head-office management functions. Together, the two services support seamless, data-driven restaurant operations spanning everything from the store floor to head-office management.

## **What the integration enables**

With this integration, order and sales data held in "Respo" can now be viewed directly from the "Pikaichi Navi" management dashboard. By combining this with Pikaichi Navi's head-office management functions — including "sales management," "attendance management," "product management," "ordering management," and "head office system" — businesses can track sales data alongside labor and purchasing costs in one place, in near real time. This enables more precise profit-and-loss management from both an individual store and company-wide perspective.

The integration also eliminates the duplicate data entry and manual aggregation work that previously occurred between stores and head office, helping improve staff productivity. The time saved can be redirected toward work that directly drives sales and customer satisfaction, such as customer service and promotional activities.

- For details on the terms of use for this integration (eligible plans, etc.), please contact us using the link below.

[https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/contact](https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/contact)

## **About "Respo"**

Respo is an all-in-one restaurant platform provided by Hello, Inc. that offers its core features free of charge within Japan. By digitizing operations such as reservation management, order acceptance, billing, and sales analysis, Respo streamlines restaurant operations end-to-end while reducing costs.

From a reservation book to a POS register and mobile ordering, the platform can be freely customized to match each store's needs.

URL: [https://respo.autoreserve.com/](https://respo.autoreserve.com/)

## **About "Pikaichi Navi"**

"Pikaichi Navi" is an ASP service provided by K&C Factory Co., Ltd. that brings together the functions restaurant businesses need to operate: "sales management," "attendance management," "product management," "ordering management," "help desk," and "head office system." By linking these functions and allowing timely access to the data that matters, it helps businesses understand store-level conditions and shape management strategy. It is used by businesses ranging from a handful of locations to chains of more than 500 stores. Pricing starts at ¥3,630 per month (plus a separate initial setup fee), depending on which features are used.

URL: [https://www.kc-factory.co.jp/pica1/](https://www.kc-factory.co.jp/pica1/)

All-in-One Restaurant Platform "Respo" Launches Integration with "Pikaichi Navi," a Management System for the Foodservice Industry

Nihonryori Kutan opened in 2018 with a name that carries the wish "may this cuisine, prepared with heartfelt sincerity (丹, tan), be forever (久, kyū) loved." The restaurant earned a Michelin one-star just one year after opening, and has been awarded two Michelin stars for six consecutive years from 2021 through 2026, continuing to be beloved by food connoisseurs. While the restaurant is centered around a small counter and cherishes "attentively facing each guest, one by one," the team had been facing persistent on-site challenges: the 24-hour burden of monitoring reservations to prevent double bookings across multiple reservation platforms, and the inability to fully leverage the guest information they had accumulated over the years. In July 2026, Kutan began using Respo — achieving a smooth handover of existing guest information, photo-based guest records, and even complimentary website production support, in what has become "an all-encompassing partnership that goes beyond reservation management."

### **Challenges Before Adopting Respo**

Nihonryori Kutan had been facing the following on-site challenges.

**■The 24-hour pressure of reservation management**

- The restaurant used multiple reservation platforms in parallel, requiring constant on-hand monitoring of reservations to prevent double bookings when instant reservations overlapped

- The state of "checking the phone frequently every waking moment" had become chronic, with reservation management always lingering somewhere in the back of the mind

**■The burden of past system migrations and underutilized guest information**

- When migrating from a handwritten reservation book to a system, staff had to manually enter each guest's information one by one, which turned out to be a far greater burden than expected

- It was difficult to keep past receipts and business cards linked to each guest, making it hard to recall "what was served last time" when responding to repeat guests

**■Limited capacity for online promotion and information dissemination**

- Fully occupied with day-to-day operations, the team had been unable to devote attention to online promotion

- Not being particularly strong in digital or online tools, the most they could manage on their own was signing up for reservation sites

### **Key Features of Respo**

"Respo" is an all-in-one platform for restaurants provided by Hello Inc., with its core functions available free of charge in Japan. It brings reservation book, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering together on a single platform, and can be flexibly combined to match each restaurant's scale and business format.

**■What Respo Offers**

- Reservation book: Integrates with multiple reservation platforms, eliminating manual transcription from each platform

- Channel manager: Centrally manages inventory across the restaurant's own site and other reservation platforms

- POS / Payment terminals: Complete checkout and payment in a single device, streamlining store operations

- Mobile ordering: Enables guests to order from their smartphone or tablet, reducing wait times

- Guest information management: Accumulates visit history, preferences, allergy information, and more, supporting tailored service for returning guests

### **Outcomes After Adopting Respo**

**■Outcome 1: Complete handover of existing guest information, with zero migration burden**

For Kutan, migrating data during a system switch had been a significant psychological hurdle — as the team had previously experienced entering every guest record by hand and admitted, "honestly, we felt heavy at the thought of doing that again." With this Respo implementation, the Respo team took care of all the synchronization and migration of guest information accumulated in the previous reservation system. With zero operational burden on the restaurant's side, the years of guest information they had built up were carried over intact into the new environment — allowing operations to begin smoothly.

**■Outcome 2: Photo-based guest records that elevate the experience for returning guests**

Respo's guest information management allows receipts from previous visits and business cards received from guests to be stored as photos. Details that cannot be captured through text alone can now be accumulated visually, with no input burden — simply by taking a picture. When a wine-loving guest asks, "What did we have last time?", staff can immediately reference past records. For Kutan, where counter-centered hospitality treasures each individual guest, this has become a system that firmly supports the daily philosophy of "offering hospitality just a little better than last time, whenever we meet again."

**■Outcome 3: A partnership that extends beyond reservation management, including complimentary website production**

Alongside the Respo adoption, a new official website conveying Kutan's appeal was also produced free of charge. Using photos already taken at the restaurant, a website that reflects the store's world view has been newly launched. For Kutan — where staff had been so busy with daily operations that online communication was out of reach — this has established a partnership that supports the restaurant's entire operations, going beyond reservation management.

**▶Kutan's newly launched website: ****[https://nihonryouri-kutan.com/](https://nihonryouri-kutan.com/)**

### **Comments from Nihonryori Kutan**

We received the following comments from chef-owner Kotaro Nakajima and floor manager Mrs. Kurosaki.

> "We used to check our phones constantly whenever we were awake, making sure double bookings didn't occur across multiple reservation platforms. Reservation management was always lingering somewhere in the back of our minds. With Respo, all of our existing guest information was carried over, and we now have a system to build up guest records through photos. We feel we can raise the quality of our hospitality even further from here."
── Floor Manager, Mrs. Kurosaki

> "What we truly want to do is increase the time we spend facing our cuisine and the guests in front of us. To have a partner who understands that intention and supports our daily operations — going beyond reservation management — is truly invaluable for Kutan."
── Chef-Owner, Kotaro Nakajima

### **Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, Representative Director, Hello Inc.**

"Nihonryori Kutan is one of the restaurants we hold in the deepest respect — a place that has cherished hospitality for each individual guest since its opening. In the daily stance conveyed by chef-owner Nakajima — 'when we meet again, offer hospitality just a little better than last time' — we felt strongly the 'weight of time' Kutan has accumulated.
Reservation management products are often seen as tools for efficiency. But we believe Respo should be a foundation that supports the time restaurants truly cherish — 'the time to face their cuisine and the guests in front of them' — across their entire operations. From reservation management to guest information activation to website production, we will continue evolving as a partner that walks alongside Kutan's daily operations, learning from voices on the ground."

### **About the Case Study Article**

The full story has been published on the official Respo website as an interview with chef-owner Nakajima and floor manager Mrs. Kurosaki. We invite you to read it.

**▶Case Study Article: "'When We Meet Again,' Made More Certain — Why Nihonryori Kutan Chose Respo"**
URL: [https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/kutan](https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/kutan)

[Respo] Adopted by Two-Michelin-Star Japanese Restaurant "Nihonryori Kutan"

SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten is a renowned Neapolitan pizzeria that opened in March 2023 after relocating from the former SAVOY Azabu-Juban location. Supported by a broad customer base centered around guests in their mid-30s, the restaurant has also seen a steady year-on-year increase in overseas visitors. However, the restaurant had been facing challenges: the operational burden of managing reservations by phone and paper reservation book, and reception errors stemming from mishearings and missed details. With Respo, the restaurant has halved its phone-based reservation handling and eliminated reception errors — establishing an environment where the team can focus on truly essential work such as welcoming guests, cooking, and service, while sustaining strong reservation volumes.

**Challenges Before Adopting Respo**

SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten had been facing the following on-site challenges.

■ The operational burden of phone-based reservations and paper reservation book

- The manager took reservations by phone and managed them by hand in a paper reservation book

- Depending on the time of day, the manager was often unavailable, forcing less-experienced part-time staff to handle calls

- Reservation handling required a lot to remember, placing considerable psychological and practical burden on young staff

- Phones felt like they rang every 5 minutes, and during busy periods it was often difficult to respond adequately

■ Reception errors from mishearings and missed details

- Handling reservations by phone and by hand made it easy for details such as name kanji, party size, and reservation times to be misheard or missed

- When inquiries or confirmation requests arose, off-duty staff sometimes had to check photos of the paper reservation book via LINE

- Missed details on items like celebration plate messages sometimes led to problems

■ The burden of handling no-shows and last-minute cancellations

- With a high volume of reservations, a certain number of no-shows and last-minute cancellations always occurred

- Staff had to contact guests directly to request or follow up on cancellation fees, which placed a significant psychological burden on the restaurant

- The risk of lost revenue from cancellations remained a persistent challenge in day-to-day operations

**Key Features of Respo**

"Respo" is an all-in-one platform for restaurants provided by Hello Inc., with its core functions available free of charge in Japan. It brings reservation book, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering together on a single platform, and can be flexibly combined to match each restaurant's scale and business format.

■ What Respo Offers

- Reservation book: Integrates with multiple reservation platforms, eliminating manual transcription from each platform

- Channel manager: Centrally manages inventory across the restaurant's own site and other reservation platforms

- POS / Payment terminals: Complete checkout and payment in a single device, streamlining store operations

- Mobile ordering: Enables guests to order from their smartphone or tablet, reducing wait times

- Guest information management: Accumulates visit history, preferences, allergy information, and more, supporting tailored service for returning guests

**Outcomes After Adopting Respo**

■ Outcome 1: Halving phone-based reservation handling while sustaining strong reservation volumes

Phones that had felt like they rang every 5 minutes have dropped to roughly half that frequency since adopting Respo. At the same time, reservation volumes have not declined — the restaurant's 19-seat reservation slots continue to fill without issue. The staff time and effort that had been consumed by taking reservations can now be redirected to truly essential work such as welcoming guests, cooking, and service.

■ Outcome 2: Elimination of reception errors caused by mishearings and missed details

Details previously confirmed over the phone — such as allergies, special occasions, and celebration plate messages — can now be gathered in advance through the reservation form. Guest inputs are preserved as records, making confirmation errors and miscommunication far less likely. Combined with required-field settings, reservation-related mistakes have dropped to nearly zero since adoption. All staff can now view the same information in real time, eliminating the need for off-duty staff to check photos of paper reservation books during breaks.

■ Outcome 3: Automated cancellation fee collection, reducing revenue loss risk

For restaurants with high reservation volumes, a certain number of no-shows and last-minute cancellations are inevitable. Previously, contacting guests directly to request or follow up on cancellation fees placed a significant psychological burden on the restaurant. With Respo's automated cancellation fee collection mechanism in place, the restaurant no longer needs to reach out to guests directly for collection, and the risk of lost revenue is now properly protected.

■ Outcome 4: Smooth adoption by young staff and positive evaluation from headquarters

The simple workflow of "checking notifications and approving reservations" was quickly embraced by young staff who are familiar with iPad and smartphone operations. It requires less onboarding than teaching phone-based reservation handling from scratch, and staff have expressed that "things have become easier since adoption." Headquarters, initially cautious, now takes a very positive view of Respo after confirming that online reservations are coming in steadily and the site is operating smoothly.

**Comments from Mr. Kikuchi, Store Manager of SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten**

We received the following comments from store manager Mr. Kikuchi.

> "To be honest, at first I felt that 'we can't build real relationships with guests unless we speak with them directly by phone.' But once we actually started using the system, we found that by exchanging detailed information through the reservation form in advance, we could spend more time on more meaningful communication when guests arrived — conversation and welcoming them. Digitalization doesn't push the restaurant and guests further apart; if anything, it brings us closer together."
── Mr. Kikuchi, Store Manager, SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten

> "The biggest reason we decided to adopt Respo was their stance of 'thinking together with us,' close to our own operations, rather than treating deployment as the finish line. Because their sales representative came to visit us multiple times to address our questions and concerns in person, the system took root smoothly on-site — with young staff naturally saying things like 'it's much easier than learning phone-based reservation handling' and 'we're glad we adopted it.'"
── Mr. Kikuchi, Store Manager, SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten

**Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, Representative Director, Hello Inc.**

> "What impressed us most about SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten was their commitment to building 'a system that upholds a certain standard of taste and quality as an organization,' rather than relying on any single artisan's skill. Their signature pizza requires staged training and a test administered personally by the president — an uncompromising approach to technique and quality expressed not through individuals but through systems. We are deeply moved by this stance.
In restaurant operations, reservation handling too tends to become something 'only certain people can do.' We hope that Respo, by functioning as 'an operational foundation anyone can use' that doesn't depend on individual skill or experience, can create more time for front-line staff to focus on the work that truly matters. As SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten takes on new challenges as a group, we will walk alongside them so that Respo can serve as one of the foundations supporting their journey."

**About the Case Study Article**

The full story has been published on the official Respo website as an interview with store manager Mr. Kikuchi. We invite you to read it.

▶ Case Study Article: "Sustaining Strong Reservations While Halving Phone-Based Handling: How SAVOY Azabu-Juban Honten Chose Respo to Create Breathing Room On-Site"
URL: [https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/savoyazabujubanhonten](https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/savoyazabujubanhonten)

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